cows-herd-good-20.html
VikingNews UK 01 2018
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21 may 2018 | vikingnews pictures from our instagram community red calves from tom dunne?s
herd
with 470
cows
at kilworth farm in downing, ireland #farminginireland #dairyfarming great snap from one of the junior handler courses in finland before the show season starts off #farmlife #junior #farming steaming hot heifers. the crispy winter weather did create that illusion. photo by @hannasuntiala #heifer #winter #cowlove torben thorsen ? owner of denmark?s
high
est yielding mixed
herd
? 360
cows
? primarily holstein, plus some crosses ? yield: 14,608 kg milk ? three full time employees ? 360 hectares ? produces 200 calves for slaughter each year what is your focus when breeding? i select bulls based on ntm (nordic total merit index), and they need to have a
high
production index ? prefer- ably around 120. i also focus on mam- mary. we have a
high
lifetime produc- tion in this
herd
, so our
cows
need to be able to last one lactation longer here than with the average dairy farmer and good udders are therefore important. i have had
high
improvements in pro- duction and increases in lifetime pro- duction by breeding for ntm. i have used beef for
cows
with the lowest ntm and still use this for approx. 30% of the
cows
. how can vikinggenetics make a difference in your
herd
? i have focused on the holstein breed- ing goals for reproduction, but look- ing at the financial aspects, it is much more expensive to cull a cow due to
high
cell count or poor feet and legs. after all, a cow that is culled because it does not become pregnant has still produced milk one or two years after calving and has reached a good slaugh- ter weight compared to
cows
that you cull for other reasons. we also aim to focus on teat placement. i have milk- ing robots and therefore i prefer breed- ing for good teat placement and sus- pensory ligaments. plus, it will be very interesting to see the financial benefits of feed efficiency when this index is launched. having the
high
est producing
herd
? what challenges do you see when it comes to reproduction? actually, i do not have any major chal- lenges. a few years ago, i decided to do insemination 90 days after calving and i noticed that the pregnancy rate increased. previously i had to dry off
cows
that produced a lot of milk, and then thought i might as well milk them for a few more months. our distributor and owner, vikingdenmark has met the owners of the three
high
est producing
herd
s in denmark for a talk about their strategy and challenges with reproduction and breeding goal. 21 may 2018 | vikingnews
crossbreeding-cows-farm-22.html
